Eve of Departure
by OtakuD50
Summary: An epilogue about Lloyd at Iselia before he sets off on his quest to find all the remaining Exspheres. It's a bit of a mess, but I wrote it on a whim, and because I felt there needed to be more Chocolat x Lloyd on the 'net.


Tales of Symphonia Eve of Departure

This world was once two separate worlds. Together with my closest friends, we joined the two worlds and revived the Mana tree. Before that, there was a system in which the two worlds competed for Mana. The Chosen of Mana would have to be sacrificed in order for one world to flourish and be rid of Desians, half-elves that enslaved humans and harvested them to create Exspheres. Exspheres were created using human lives, and they were nothing but trouble. Hopefully, the world will become a more peaceful place now that we no longer have the Desians or that stupid "fighting-over-mana" system. But there are still Exspheres out there, and I know that as long as that's true, people will fight over their power.

As I awoke, the first thing I saw was a cheery girl's face.

"Rise and shine!"

I probably should've said something polite, but if anything, I was shocked. I mean, as soon as I opened my eyes, I saw her staring at me!

"Wah!"

And then I fell to the floor. Real smooth. But she fell too, so I didn't feel too bad.

"Ow! Oh, Lloyd, I'm sorry"

"Never mind that, I'm okay Colette."

Colette is one of my oldest friends. Er, what I mean is that she was my friend longer than any of my other ones. I have several friends that are way older than me. She was the Chosen of Mana, and was destined to sacrifice her life to save the world. I wasn't about to let that happen though. I never liked the idea of sacrificing the few to save the many. Especially when one of the few happens to be one of my best friends. And it was because I wanted to find a different path to save the world that it has become the way it is now.

"So why are you here so early? Did Dad let you in?"

I meant Dirk. He found me when I was only a baby and raised me as his own child. I would later find out that my mother was experimented on by Desians. My father... that is, my real father, was forced to kill her when she turned into a beast. I would find out that my father was an Angel of Cruxis. I even fought against him several times without knowing he was my father. In the end, he left me. To atone for his crimes and to prevent any new problems from popping up, he followed Derris-Kharlan, a world filled with Mana, wherever it went to make sure its power was never misused. It took me a long time to recognize Kratos as my father. I still think of Dirk as my father though.

"Dirk? I didn't see him. I think he went to the forest"

"So you just let yourself in?"

"Yup!"

"Why?"

"I just wanted to see you early in the morning! That, and I wanted to spend some time with you while I still can."

I understood how she felt. Later today, I'm leaving Iselia on a journey. I promised a close friend that we would travel this new world together to hunt down every last Exsphere. Like I said, they were dangerous. Colette needed to stay in Iselia while they worked on reconstructing and expanding. We freed the prisoners from the nearby Human Ranch, so the people of Iselia welcomed them in. Looks like our quiet little village may soon become a bustling town like Luin. Anyway, the point is, she couldn't come with me on our journey, though I know she desperately wanted to. She was always relying on me for a lot of things and was clingy like that.

"It's not like I'm going to be gone forever. I'll come back to visit Iselia from time to time"

"You promise?"

"Yeah... I promise."

When you make a promise to Colette, you have to keep it. She's the kind of person that would believe anything anyone told her.

"Try to visit often. I'll get lonely if you're gone for too long, especially since Genis and Raine aren't here anymore."

Genis and Raine are sibling half-elves. I've known Genis for about as long as

I've known Colette. Raine is his older sister. They're both geniuses, though

Genis is still a kid, so he acts like a dork sometimes.

Those two went on their own journey to work on getting half-elves accepted into society. It's probably a tougher journey than what I'm about to start. They were our closest friends, so I guess when I leave, Colette really will be alone. At least she has her parents and the village.

"Okay, I'll try. I still need to get dressed, so wait outside and we'll go back to the village together, okay?

"What about breakfast?"

"I'll eat when we get there."

It was kind of an awkward conversation to have first thing in the morning, but it's a good thing it didn't take long to get out of it. I didn't like having serious discussions this early. I put on my clothes and had a quick snack before we headed out.

Iselia used to be a quiet, small town. Recently, since things have changed so much in the world, they've been trying to expand it. Like I said, there are the prisoners from the Human Ranch, but for some reason, the King of Meltokio (the "capital" of the former world of Tethe'alla) regards our village as the former capital of Sylvarant. Probably since the last Chosen was born here. I guess we've been trying to live up to the expectations of what a capital is supposed to be like.

The King sent an "emissary of peace" here. I was surprised when it turned out it was Sheena. She played an important part in joining the two worlds because of her ability to make pacts with Summon Spirits. If it hadn't been for her, the union of the two worlds would have been impossible. We found her walking around near the northern gate.

"Sheena, hi!"

She turned around. "Lloyd! I've been waiting for you."

"What about me?"

"Oh, well it's nice to see you, too Colette."

Heh heh. I could tell she was jealous. She seemed to act differently when Sheena and I were together, even though we were only friends. When Sheena and I made the pact with Origin, she told me to keep the ring of pact. It was a diamond ring. It's not the kind of thing I'd wear on my finger, so I keep it hung around my neck. Colette apparently thought there was something more to it then as well, and she's been suspicious ever since.

"So, you're still here in Iselia, huh?"

"Yeah, well... I know it's weird since I don't live here, but I wanted to see you off."

"Sounds like the popular thing to do," I joked.

"Lloyd's not leaving until later this afternoon, so you'll have time then!"

Colette was grabbing on to my arm a little strongly. It was cute... but it kinda hurt.

"Heh heh, don't worry. I figured you might be lonely when Lloyd leaves, so I'm gonna stay here a couple days longer before I go back to Mizuho."

Colette's face brightened up. "Really? Oh, thank you, Sheena!" Despite things, they were actually pretty close friends.

Just then, someone came rushing up to us. I didn't really know this guy, since he was from the Ranch, but he seemed to have something important to say.

"Lloyd!"

I'm pretty popular today. "Something wrong?"

"Chocolat has gone missing."

Chocolat used to live in Palmacosta. She was captured by Desians and eventually brought to the Iselia Human Ranch. She hated me for a long while when she found out I killed her grandmother, Marble. But that was because the Exsphere in her awakened and turned her into a beast. I had no choice. She seemed to forgive me when we freed her from the Human Ranch though. And it was thanks to her that we were accepted back into the village.

Sheena was the first to speak up. "Maybe the three of us should go find her."

I was quick to agree. "Yeah. Colette, you stick around the village in case she comes back. Sheena and I will check out the forest."

"No! I want to help out, too"

"If she shows up in the village, then we'll just be wasting our time in the forest."

"Oh... okay..."

She really wanted to come, but the forest near Iselia grew thicker since the worlds were joined. She would get lost easily. Besides, there was a reason I wanted us split up.

Sheena and I split up to cover more ground. She was faster, so she could search the far southern area of the forest while I took my time in the northern area. I found Chocolat crying in a cave.

"Hey, the villagers are worried about you."

She was probably startled from my voice. She let out a gasp. "Lloyd?"

"Yeah. Come on, stop crying and let's get back."

"Shut up. You don't know how I feel."

I didn't, but I had an idea. When we broke the mana links, a large earthquake destroyed Palmacosta. Although there were some survivors, her mother Cacao wasn't one of them. My actions were responsible for taking the lives of both her grandmother and her mother. I wouldn't be surprised if she hated me again. Unlike my friends, she didn't have the strength to attempt to change fate. She wasn't a skilled warrior, she didn't have any connections to Cruxis or the Desians. She was just a normal girl that didn't deserve to suffer like this. The fact that I'm the cause of her suffering hurts me more than anything.

"I'm... really sorry." That was a given.

"If you're talking about my grandmother and mom, I already forgave you. It's not

your fault."

I wish I could say that was a relief, but that just meant...

"You're probably lonely, aren't you? But don't worry about it. Everyone in the village accepts you. I know we can't replace your real family, but you shouldn't think of yourself as alone."

That was really cheesy, but it felt like the only thing I could say. But instead of cheering her up (not like I expected her to) she just glared at me angrily.

"How could you say that when you're leaving me, too?"

My heart skipped a beat. I was hurting her again without knowing it. I looked into her angry eyes and saw her expression change again as she started to cry. I moved closer, and she didn't show any signs of resistance, so I embraced her and let her cry on my shoulder as much as she wanted. I felt like crying, too. I realized something inside of me. At first I thought it was guilt for all I've done to her, but looking into her eyes I saw the answer. I loved her.

It seemed like I held her for hours, though it was only about a minute. She stopped crying and looked up at me. I felt like there was only one thing I could do at that moment. She seemed to understand without me saying anything and closed her eyes. Just then... I heard an annoying, ever arrogant voice that I hadn't heard in a long time.

"Hey, Lloyd! There you are! Whoops, are you in the middle of something"

"Zelos... you idiot."

"Ow, that's harsh. But you're the one stealing hunnies behind my back. Has the great Zelos Wilder rubbed off on you? You know, I could give some pointers about..."

Zelos was the Chosen of Tethe'alla, though he wasn't meant to sacrifice himself. He was really laid-back and a womanizer. Although he seemed shallow and selfish at times, he was a really nice guy. Yeah, I consider him one of my best friends. Any other time and I'd be glad to see him again. Right now I just wanted to ignore him. Then it hit me.

"Wait, what are you doing here?"

"I heard from my cute Colette that you were out here"

"Is that so?" I glared at him.

"Huh? Of course 'that's so.' Why else would I be here"

"Maybe you just heard that there was a missing girl and decided to save the day by yourself? I'll bet you didn't have a second thought about me"

"Heh heh heh. Well, what does it matter? I've found you two, so let's get back!"

That was Zelos-speak for "yes" I take it. At first I thought he might have come to see me off, but that doesn't make any sense. He probably knew that Colette would be by herself while I was gone and decided to make his move. That's probably why Sheena decided to spend a few days in Iselia also. She seemed to always know what was on his mind.

Sheena spotted us as we left the cave. I told Sheena to take Zelos and wait for me later. I winked at Zelos and he winked back; he would probably make up some story to cover for me. When it came to things like this, he was pretty shrewd.With those two gone, I looked back at Chocolat. The mood was broken all right, but I could tell she was still upset.

"Come with me. I'll show you something."

She was definitely confused, but she nodded and followed me anyway. I led her deeper into the forest until we reached a wide clearing. It was like a big open area surrounded by trees. It probably looked unnatural.

"Wow, I didn't know there was a place like this in the forest!"

She looked a little happier. That was good. I held her hand and brought her to the center and motioned her to sit down.

"Do you see this?"

"A sprout?"

"Yeah. One day, this sprout will become the Mana Tree from the legends. It's something we all fought for. And it's something I know your mother would have loved to see"

"It's something that important? And... you risked your life for it"

"Yeah"

"I see"

"So... while I'm gone... I want you to take care of it for me, okay"

She looked sad for a while, then blushed and smiled back at me.

"Yes. I... I'll wait for you. When you return, I promise we'll both be here for you."

That was what I wanted to hear. It was sad knowing that we had figured out our feelings for each other just as I was about to leave, but I felt a little more courage knowing that she would be waiting for me, keeping the Great Seed safe.

Upon that promise, we kissed. Probably not as romantic as it would've been if Zelos hadn't interrupted us in the cave, but this was nice too.

We walked back to the village and met my friends there. Regal and Presea were there, too. Regal is the president of a large company, and Presea was experimented on to create a Cruxis Crystal. Both of them suffered because of Exspheres. That's why Regal and I were going on this journey to hunt them all down. But...

"Why is Presea here?"

"She was determined to help me in finding the rest of the Exspheres. It's not like she has any other important business"

"Oh. Well, the journey will definitely be a lot easier with you around, Presea."

Presea smiled and replied, "It's what my sister would have wanted."

We had a big party in the school (we would've had it in Colette's house, but the school has more space). I don't know why they decided to make such a big deal over me, but it's not like I'm complaining. Now that I think about it, back when we were traveling together we didn't really have much of a chance to just relax and talk like this.

I snuck out of the party and decided to stop by my house one last time. Chocolat was waiting for me at the gate.

"So you're leaving now?"

"Yeah. I didn't want to say goodbye to all of them. Especially since I'll probably meet them during my journey."

"They're lucky. They'll probably get to see you again before I do."

"It's just as hard on me, you know. I don't know how I'll be able to concentrate on my mission when I'm thinking of you."

Unexpectedly, Chocolat laughed. "Ah hah hah... oh, that was way too corny, even for you!"

I felt the blood rushing to my head. Then I found myself laughing, too. "Yeah, I guess it was!"

It probably would've been okay to kiss or hug each other at this point, but we just looked in each others eyes and waved. I went back home to say my final goodbyes to Dirk and my mom, then set off for another journey.

END


End file.
